Some kids have certainly kicked off their summer vacation with loads of fun! As opposed to rotting in front of the television or playing on the computer all day long, a bunch of kids enrolled in a storytelling workshop by Easylib.com conducted in association with Kathalaya.
Five-day workshop
The first day of the five-day workshop was a session in voice training, conducted by Geeta Ramanujam who started with a story.
As always, with her voice modulation and other wonderful story telling skills, Geeta managed to grab the attention of the children right away. The kids listened to the story of a lonely old mountain and a bird that befriends it.
Using different voices and sounds, Geeta helped the children respond to the story at regular intervals.
The story managed to be a great success and evoked the right response from the kids who were laughing their heads off as well as being all upset at the right points in the story! Geeta then allowed the children to complete the story.
Each child had their own ending and it was certainly wonderful to see their varied and imaginative responses. The children were later lead into voice modulation. This was loads of fun for the kids as they could scream loudly and yet in controlled notes.
Telling tales
The day concluded with the children coming up with their own stories. Said Geeta, "The workshop was created keeping in mind the kids of today. If one notices, they do not have time to play or interact with each other.
“A lot of them are quiet and not expressive and there are the other extremes as well. The workshop will not only help children become expressive, but also aid them in academics. The present educational system has no room for this kind of learning. I am thankfully not bound by a syllabus so I can teach them in an interactive environment."
In the rest of the modules, the workshop covered Picture Story or the Chitrakatha to help children visualise their thoughts, art and puppetry to help them bring out their creative side and basics of creative writing. As for the kids, said eight- year- old Aparna, "I liked the workshop very much. I'm looking forward to coming back!" All the kids seem to echo the same thoughts.
The workshop was held in Easylib.com and the space seemed to lend itself ideally to the workshop and what it was trying to achieve. It was certainly a sight for sore eyes to see almost every child pick up a book during the break.
Friday, April 6, 2007
